Brede Previews Spurs

Without a game last weekend, Fulham Captain Brede Hangeland says he’s looking forward to the side’s return to action this coming Sunday.

Due to Chelsea’s involvement in the FA Cup sponsored by Budweiser, the Whites had a break from fixtures, with Martin Jol’s Team facing Tottenham Hotspur in six days’ time.

Spurs have enjoyed a fine campaign to date, and enter Sunday’s (3pm) encounter determined to secure their place in next season’s UEFA Champions League, with Andre Villas-Boas’ side currently residing in third place with 54 points from their 29 games.

“They are a very good side and right now are one of the top teams in the country,” said Brede to fulhamfc.com. “I watched them against Inter Milan in the UEFA Europa League last week and thought they were superb. They were a little unlucky against Liverpool on Sunday, but they’ve got their eye on qualifying for the Champions League next season, and you wouldn’t rule it out.

“Villas-Boas has them playing some really good football this term, and throughout their squad they have some very talented players. Gareth Bale is in fine form, whilst they also have the likes of Aaron Lennon, Mousa Dembélé and Jermain Defoe who can make a difference in the final third.

“At the back, they have a lot of strength too; they have a good goalkeeper in Hugo Lloris and in front of him Michael Dawson and Jan Vertonghen are a strong partnership. We know that they will be difficult to beat.

“White Hart Lane is a tough ground to visit too, and I’m sure that many will see Spurs as the favourites. But that’s fine, we know what we are capable of and we like to think that we can continue our recent good form and take something from the game.

“They beat us 3-0 at Craven Cottage at the start of December, so it would be nice to address that this weekend. Spurs have played a lot of games recently, because of their involvement in the Europa League, and having had a bit of a break, hopefully that will be an advantage to us.

“Mentally, the break was a good thing, but personally, I’d have preferred to have had a game. I think momentum is important and it has to be said that we were on a decent run. I’m just looking forward to getting out there and playing again, like the rest of the squad, so hopefully we can make it a memorable day.”

Fulham will be looking to build on an unbeaten run of three matches when they make the trip to North London, where last season Spurs recorded a 2-0 win at our expense.

“I think we have improved over the past month or so,” he added. “We have managed to get a good couple of results and put points on the board. That said, I still feel that we could have had more to show, especially from the game at Sunderland where I thought we should have won.

“We are starting to look up again, rather than down. With quite a few points up for grabs still, we want to finish the season as strongly as possible. We have a habit of finishing the season well and hopefully that will be the case again.

“If we can continue to pick up the points and see the campaign through to the end, we still have a chance of doing well. We know that other teams may switch off, and when they do we have to make the most of that. It would be nice to finish in the top half, and I believe we can do that.”